Smolder: A Gothic Club Vampire Romance with Shifters

By: Lisa Carlisle

Narrated by: Bridget Bordeaux

Length: 3 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's Summary

Damaged heroes, fated mates, and forbidden love....

Welcome to Vamps, where the statues are so much more than stone.

Start the Underground Encounters series with Cursed, meeting the gargoyle shifters who guard at an underground club and appear throughout the series. 

Flings are supposed to be harmless fun, right? Wrong. Gargoyle shifter Lucan learns this the hard way when his latest conquest curses him with dark magic, forever trapping him - and his brothers - in stone.

Witches be crazy....

Continue with a steamy vampire romance in Smolder.

Ice blue eyes, intense stare, incredible accent....

Vampire.

Had she missed the signs?

At the rock climbing gym, he's a harmless crush. But, when Nike runs into Michel at an underground goth club, her reality and fantasy worlds collide.

And the consequences could be deadly.

Escape into Vamps, an underground goth club that attracts shifters, vampires, witches, and gargoyles. Feed your paranormal romance addiction with this series today!

©2017 Lisa Carlisle (P)2019 Lisa Carlisle

Gargoyle Bodyguards and their Vampire Boss

Rating: ❤❤❤❤
Heat Rating: 🔥🔥🔥
Narrator Performance: 🎧🎧🎧

This edition of Smolder contains the prequel to the Underground Encounters series, Cursed.

CURSED ••• ❤❤❤❤
Cursed is the prequel to the Underground Encounters series. The series revolves around a goth club called Vamps.

This delightful little story is about three of the stone gargoyles that decorate the club and how they got there. They're actually cursed shifters, brothers, and will eventually get their own stories later on in the series. I loved the repartee between the brothers and thought it was fantastic. I found myself grinning at their comments and actions more than once. And while the idea of a curse trapping shifters in one form or another isn't original the details of this specific curse were. As was it's interesting loophole.

I think that the author captured her readers' attention enough with this short novella to ensure that they'll keep on reading the series. That is, after all, the purpose of a story like this. I think that it's a cool world that Carlisle has created and I know that I'm interested in learning more about it.

SMOLDER ••• ❤❤❤❤
Smolder is the story of Vamps club owner, Michel and firefighter, Nike. I liked it but not quite as much as Cursed. The two stories had totally different feels to them. That's to be expected considering only Smolder is a romance. Unfortunately though I couldn't get the feel of Cursed out of my system as I started listening to this. I think that it threw off the flow of my experience.

Both Michel and Nike were likeable characters in my opinion. However nothing really stood out about them for me. I liked that she was a firefighter. I haven't come across a female firefighter in one of my reads prior to this. And I totally agreed with her "get over it" reaction to the conflict and villain of the story.

Carlisle kept up the pace in this PNR novella. There was a lot going on and she kept me entertained. Plus there were some great action scenes!

ABOUT THE NARRATOR ••• 🎧🎧🎧
Although parts of Bridget Bordeaux's performances delighted me others did not. I loved her portrayal of Nike's friend, Maya. Also her accents were good for the brothers. The other parts of her performance, like pacing and acting, were enjoyable but I think they need some working on.

*Voluntarily reviewed. Review copy provided by the author.

Great Story!!

This audiobook has two books in one—the prequel to the series, and Smolder, which is book one of the Underground Encounters series. Both stories are excellent and will keep you captivated as each of the two stories unfold. There’s lots of suspense in both stories, and I look forward to listening to the next books in this excellent series. The narrator did an outstanding job in bringing this story to life, and I enjoyed listening to her narration of the two books in this selection.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Intro to a PNR series with a fun goth club setting

This audiobook includes both the prequel short story (Cursed) and the first novella (Smolder) in Lisa Carlisle’s Underground Encounters series.

I wasn’t crazy about Cursed. I didn’t feel like I knew and liked the gargoyle brothers enough to care about what happened to them. The story does provide some background for the rest of the series though.

I enjoyed Smolder more. I like the Vamps club as a setting and enjoyed the references to music and fashion. I enjoyed how the story was told in Nike and Michel’s alternating first person point of view. You really have to suspend disbelief at times, but if you can do that, it’s a fun steamy romance.

This book contains obscenities, violence, and explicit sexual content. If that won’t bother you and you like the idea of urban fantasy/paranormal romance stories set in a goth club, this is a light, entertaining read.

Bridget Bordeaux’s narration was competent. She has a pleasant voice and it was fun to hear her different accents, but I felt like her pace and emphasis were a bit off at times.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook by the author and volunteered to provide an honest review.

Great story and good narration

This was a new to me narrator and a story that I had read and LOVED! It was a good performance, there were some parts that the flow and tone was a bit off, but she did amazing with the accents! Her accents and male voices were absolutely fantastic, I loved them. The story was great and I loved how we got the little prequel with it at the beginning (Yay, more accents!) Looking forward to listing to the rest of the series and more of Lisa Carlisle's books in audio!

There's only one nightclub like this one

Nike and her best friend go out for a Halloween night of dancing at a club that caters to those who don't quite fit in with everyone else. When Nike sees the man she has been crushing on and he actually talks to her, she is in heaven. Unfortunately, the man has enemies, really really old enemies who have been looking for him. An explosion, a fire, a fight between ancient beings - and Nike is caught in the middle.

I was given a copy of this audiobook by the author. I do own the ebook version. My review is voluntary.

Two Books for the Price of One

This audiobook contained two stories the first told the tale of three Gargoyle shifter brothers who were cursed by a witch. The curse meant that they were forever trapped within their stone forms unable to move or shift at will. They discovered by chance that if someone needed their help they were able to shift and would remain free in their human forms for 24 hours. The story was interesting and set the scene for when Michel a vampire acquaintance of theirs decides to open a nightclub in America and asks them to go with him as bouncers/bodyguards inside the club. The brothers decide to go as there is more chance of their help being needed there than in their quiet village in France.

The nightclub in question is Vamps and it's there that the second book Smolder takes place. I loved this hot, steamy sexy story The name is just perfect for the story! Nike, named after a Greek God and not the sporting brand, is a female firefighter who loves to hang out at a club which is more than it seems. Every chance she and her friend Maya get they go there to relax and dance off the strain of their demanding jobs.

She is approached at the bar by an incredibly sexy man she recognises from her rock climbing club and decides to take a chance and be alone with him. It turns out that he owns the club and several other ventures but before they have a chance to get to know each other better the club is bombed and she and Maya help with the evacuation. Whilst this is happening Michele is fighting with the two cloaked figures who attacked his bar. He and Nike managed to get away from them but for how long?

It's great to have such a strong and determined female lead in a story. I NEVER give spoilers so if you have read the 'blurb' there's not much more I can say without giving things away - except that this is a very quick well-written story which I would gladly have given a higher score if I could.

The narration by Bridget Bordeaux was well done and added to my enjoyment of this book.

I was given this audiobook as a gift and am voluntarily writing my review.

2 Female Firefighters, Vampire, Gargoyles

In this Audible book you get the Prequel Story about the 3 Gargoyle Brothers history. In Smolder The story starts with 2 Female Firefighters after work going out to a dance club to blow off Steam. I think the story line is good but very descriptive Sex, which I do not care for myself, but since the story is good stuck with it.
Narrator did French accents well. I will listen to the next book "Fire" but if it is Extremely descriptive sexually, though I like storyline will probably stop there.

Not too bad

The story wasn’t bad. The narrator sounded a bit robotic. Her accents were pretty good but when she read the story, it didn’t flow smoothly and I almost didn’t finish. I even skipped through some scenes.

Vamps, Action, Shifters oh my !!

I read this book back in 2017 and was excited that it's now an audible book. We do get the beginning of their journey before it heads into the real story at heart here. Nike and Maya go hang out at a local club and it catches fire. Michel falls head over heels for Nike who is standoffish at first. The narrator handles the characters with ease and speaks clearly which is always a plus. The audio version was just as good as the book with a bit more oomph... Loved it...

Good prequel

I enjoyed this book it was fun and entertaining, Good story you can never go wrong with Gargoyle shifter shifters, Narrator did a good job

Entertaining!

Smolder is fast-paced and an entertaining paranormal romance. It began with gargoyle shifters then switched to the vampire; the bases for both are enjoyable. The plot and characters are well developed and engaging. I liked to find out more, and I look forward to the next audiobook in the series.

Lisa Carlisle does a satisfactory job with the narration. She has a very pleasant voice; the reading is clear and precise. The only thing that I didn't like is the French-accented voices, it was kind of distracting.

I was given a free copy of this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

2 Hot Novellas in One!

CURSED:

🦇Great Introduction to the Series🦇

Never upset a witch; that's what gargoyle shifter Lucan learns the hard way. He and his brothers are cursed to become pretty gothic statues for the rest of their lives, luckily they find a loophole.

This is a fine backstory introduction that shows how the three handsome gargoyles found their way into Vamps, the famous bar in the Underground Encounters series.

SMOLDER:

🦇Fiery Vampire Romance!🦇

What do you get when you mix a female firefighter, a hot French vampire and a nightclub explosion? A fiery paranormal romance that will warm you up nicely. This fast paced novella is everything a vamp lover looking for a quickie wants.

Great start of a new series!!

This book is well written and narrated. This is the first book in the series. I was intrigued and fascinated by the storyline. This story has action, adventure, suspense, intrigue and romance.
The narrator does a fantastic job with the characters and voices of each which makes it easy to distinguish between the characters. She places the right amount of emotions into the characters. I will definitely look for more books with this narrator.

Excellent action

I must say that I don’t think I’ve read any books with so must action in them. It’s non stop action from start to finish. It’s very refreshing. Excellent narration.

Really enjoyable

This one is definitely enjoyable the characters were interesting and I wanted to know everything about them. The author has built a very strong world and this shows with just how well you can be absorbed into the story. Absolutely loved it will definitely be reading others by this author

Gargoyles and Vampires...

Interesting how the shifters are portrayed. A curse on the gargoyle brothers. A vampire loving humans. A Gothic Club where shifters meet. Lovely story...

A good example of the lighter side of the genre

Some paranormal romances are very easy to read/listen to, some are not. I found this one fell into the easy to listen to category and it kept my interest peaked right from the start. It is not full of hardcore sex scenes on virtually every other page (like some) but is a more fun and easy going story, with enough going on to make it a worthy paranormal romance contender. The only downside I found was the narrator, who did a reasonable job, but when reading the thoughts of the french character did so with her normal accent yet when reading his dialogue she did it with a French accent, so you were never sure which character she was portraying.
Overall a very enjoyable story and just long enough to get me through the housework! 😂

Paranormal nightlife

This audiobook includes both the prequel 'Cursed' and the first book in the Underground Encounters series, 'Smolder'.

*****Spoilers******
In Cursed we learn how Gargoyle brothers are cursed to be locked in stone. They discover that the curse can be briefly lifted when someone needs protecting from danger. They later meet Michele, a vampire who offers them a mutually beneficial position as specialist bouncers in his paranormal club, the setting of many stories to come.

Smolder continues with Michele's adventures in evading an old adversary holding a very old grudge who catches up with Michele at just the wrong moment... There are hints of the gargoyle brothers' stories to come. Will they ever escape their curse? I look forwards to finding out.

Secretive

Like the story line and the characters, but it felt very fast. After all the years the vampire has been around he falls that fast for her without even really knowing her? And she finds out what he is pretty quickly as well yet she doesn't have a problem. Lots of questions and secrets. It is book 1 so hopefully things will make more sense in book 2. The narrator did a good job.

Enjoyable

Format: audiobook
This is a good entertaining read so why only 3 stars? Well, it feels like two books made into one!
It starts with three gargoyle brothers and the curse they’ve been put under, their time spent looking for a solution to break the curse which it looks like could be finding mates, all good so far. They are offered a job in another country, good I think, this could be their new start and where they’ll start to find their mate/mates and possibly break their curse but then the story becomes all about their vampire boss Michel and an old enemy trying to kill him, Nike is his love interest who’s just appeared on the scene when the attack happens, Michel takes her to a safe house to protect her, they are found way too easily and a fight to the death which again is way too easy considering he’s been hunting him for centuries!
As I said both parts are good, entertaining and action packed at times but I feel like I’ve read/listened to the first part of one book and the second half of a completely different book.